Will the Fitbit Versa make you trade in your Apple Watch?

13/03/2018

Today, the company is expanding its line with the Versa, a more casual, affordable model. Now the company is back with a new smartwatch with a "more approachable" price tag and a brand new activity tracker for kids. And cheaper than comparable devices - the Apple Watch or most Android Wear watches. The watch features a "squircle" display, basically a square rounded at the edges.

Back in August of a year ago, Fitbit officially unveiled its new Ionic smarwtach, which turned out to be pretty good. Fitbit's hardly alone among wearable makers in that oversight, of course, but the issue certainly stood out for a company whose products are aimed at a mainstream appeal. While dodging balls and jump roping my way to a good sweat, the Versa never got in the way-I barely even noticed it was there.

Battery life has always been one of Fitbit's strong points; it was one of the better features of the Fitbit Ionic. Like the Ionic, it's platform agnostic. The Fitbit app logs your weight, sleep, workouts, heart rate, food intake and, now, your periods; it then gives you insights based on analyzing all of that data. It's also safe for swimming. The experience of using the $100 Fitbit Ace remains largely unchanged, though, which means you strap one on your child and let them run off into the sunset. It's a device for serious athletes that don't mind paying a premium price to get the most top-of-the-line features. On the other hand, it lacks the Ionic's built-in Global Positioning System with GLONASS, wallet-free payments, and has a smaller screen.

The $199.95 Versa is made of aluminum and comes in five distinct finishes including black, rose gold, and silver. All Versa watches in Europe and Asia will come with Fitbit Pay onboard, but in the United States you'll need to get the £229.99 Special Edition Versa to get the feature. Fitbit promises it's also durable and versatile, with a thin anodised aluminium case and a variety of stylish accessories.

In terms of design, the Ace borrows heavily from the Fitbit Alta and Alta HR, with a few tweaks. A new familyFitbit account accompanies the Ace, offering parental control features to keep the kids safe while using the device.

The revamped version 2.0 of the software also gained hundreds of new apps and clock faces that weren't available when the Ionic debuted, including programs from United Airlines (ual), Yelp (yelp), and Google's (googl) Nest.

The Ace is available for pre-order now at $99.95 and is expected to ship before July. Menstrual tracking will also make its way to the Ionic in Spring 2018 - and is only available to Fitbit users who identify as female.

Fitbit will also start giving users guidance for menstrual cycles, ovulation, fertility and common misconceptions.

The Fitbit Versa also has the technical chops to back up their handsome aesthetic, with a solid list of features that includes heart rate monitoring, 50 meter water resistance, on-board music storage, and compatibility with a huge number of watchfaces and apps - making it one of the most impressive Fitbits to date, and even one of the most fully-featured smartwatches in general.

This is all part of Fitbit's push to expand into new demographics.

The Versa is powered by Fitbit OS 2.0, which provides a new and personalized dashboard for daily and weekly health and fitness stats, historical activity, heart rate, and exercise summaries, action-oriented motivational messages, tips and tricks, and daily guidance.

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